You Can Never Have Too Many Stuffed Animals
by Kuroyuri
Summary: Jr. says something he shouldn't have, will MOMO forgive him and get over it? JM SA CK
1. chapter I

A/N: This is my first Xenosaga fanfic, but it's been on my mind for a while. Feedback or just comments is always welcome in a review. Please enjoy!  
  
Disclaimer: If I really owned the brilliant idea of Xenosaga, do you really think I'd spend my time writing fanfics?  
  
Chapter One:  
  
Jr. felt the ship right itself and sighed in relief. They'd barely managed to leave the asteroid field without major damage. "Everybody still breathing?" He asked and there were grumbles and he definitely heard Allen mumble something.  
  
"Jr.," Chaos stepped near him, his cheery voice gone. "You were a bit hard on MOMO. She just came to see if you were all right, and you yelled at her."  
  
"That's right, she's probably very upset." Shion agreed uneasily looking towards the door that MOMO and Ziggy had exited a while before.  
  
"Dammit..." He ran a hand through his hair, scratching the back of his head. "But I didn't mean to be..."  
  
***  
  
Ziggy's glance slid to the small girl next to him. She'd been quiet lately, something she only did when she was obviously upset. "MOMO... is something wrong?" He asked.  
  
"Oh no... everything is okay." She never looked at him, just continued to stare ahead silently. 'What did I do wrong? I don't even remember why he got so angry...'  
  
"MOMO, what are you doing down here?!" Jr. yelled angrily as the ship rocked violently.  
  
"I... I just wanted to make sure you were okay!" Her voice was low and the fear she was feeling was easily heard.  
  
"Damn it!" The ship rocked again causing her to loose her balance and fall. "Grrr...! Ziggy, get her out of here!" He bellowed as she felt Ziggy's strong arms pick her up effortless and carry her to the door.  
  
"Jr.!"  
  
She gently touched the bullet on her bracelet. "Ziggy... I'm going to go to my room. I don't feel so good..." Without waiting for his response she got to her feet and trotted off, leaving Ziggy alone and unsettled.  
  
***  
  
In her room, MOMO sat on her bed and sniffed. She felt like she needed to be comforted but... all her furry soft stuffed creatures (stuffed animals!!!) had been given to her by Jr. and she didn't want to touch them.  
  
Her room was bright and cheery, splashes of color everywhere. But... framed pictures of her and Jr. sat on her small dresser, and the table by her bed. Pictures of her and Shion, Allen, Chaos, Ziggy, and KOS-MOS were scattered around the room, between the windows.  
  
With a small sigh she slipped underneath the covers and the lights turned off, while she hugged her pillow tight as she went to sleep tonight after turning Jr.'s picture so that it faced downwards.  
  
***  
  
"Ziggy... where's MOMO?" Allen asked as the group entered the galley, it was time for dinner.  
  
"She said she was going to her room after indicated that she did not feel well." He complied. "That was over two hours ago."  
  
"Two hours... I'll go fetch her, if she isn't feeling well, she shouldn't miss dinner." Shion said worriedly, MOMO was practically her little sister. With a small wave she hurried out of the galley and Jr. slumped in his seat.  
  
"Ahh, cheer up, it's not your fault!" Chaos said brightly and Ziggy made a clicking noise in his throat.  
  
"Actually, it probably is."  
  
Jr. glared at him. "Oh gee, thanks."  
  
***  
  
Shion knocked gently before entering MOMO's darkened room. "MOMO? How are you feeling?" The lights switched on and she sat up, looking not the least bit happy.  
  
"Not so good."  
  
"Well... it's dinner time, I'm sure a good meal will make you feel better." Shion said with a smile.  
  
'I'd have to eat dinner with Jr.... I don't want to see him!' "I want to Shion, but I really don't feel like eating with everybody." MOMO avoided her eyes.  
  
"With Jr. you mean... I know. How about I bring you back a plate and we'll eat in here?" Shion suggested brightly.  
  
MOMO seemed to perk up a little bit. "That sounds like fun. Okay!"  
  
Shion got up, "I'll be right back!" She made her way back to the galley and Jr. looked up eagerly.  
  
"Is she all right?"  
  
"Um... well... she doesn't feel up to walking here, so I said I'd eat in her room with her, keep her company." Shion picked up her trey and got one for MOMO as well.  
  
"I'll go." Jr. started to rise but Shion quickly shook her head.  
  
"Oh no, really, she's not up to company."  
  
"But your company!" His voice rose, 'Why can't I see her, dammit?'  
  
"I think Shion means that you're the company MOMO doesn't want to be around at the moment." Ziggy said and Jr. glared at him.  
  
"Dammit!"  
  
Shion frowned lightly. "I'll see you all after dinner." Balancing the trays she left quickly and Jr. sat down sullenly.  
  
"Hey Chaos... do me a favor and go with her." Jr. asked his friend who looked surprised.  
  
"Sure..." Picking up his plate he left leaving the rest of the company in silence.  
  
***  
  
"Here you go MOMO!" Shion placed the tray with Udon and Yakisoba and a glass of water. (for those of you who don't know, Udon and Yakisoba are popular noodle dishes in Japan)  
  
"Oh wow Shion, thanks!" They began to dig in when there was a soft knock at the door and Shion's eyes widened.  
  
'Surely Jr. wouldn't...' "Yes?" She answered.  
  
"Shion, MOMO, can I accompany you?" Chaos answered in his sweet tone and the two girls smiled at each other.  
  
"Of course you can, come on in!"  
  
Chaos entered with a grin and sat cross-legged next to MOMO. "How are you feeling?"  
  
"Better. Shion's helped." MOMO said brightening even more and Shion gave Chaos a grateful look.  
  
"Oh, I nearly forgot! Guess what MOMO?" Shion said excitedly.  
  
"What?"  
  
"There's going to be a carnival this Saturday, and since we're going to be grounded for a while once we reach our destination, we can go!"  
  
"Ohh, a real carnival Shion?" MOMO said happily and Shion nodded.  
  
"Oh that's right, I'd almost forgotten too, Shion. I was planning on taking KOS-MOS with me. Is that all right?" Chaos asked nibbling on his rice balls.  
  
"Oh sure, I'd think she'd enjoy it."  
  
"Speaking of which Shion, are you going with Allen?" Chaos asked causally while winking slyly at MOMO who giggled.  
  
"Allen?! Wh-what?" Shion's whole face had now turned red. "Go with a... a... co-worker?!"  
  
He rolled his eyes. "Shion, it's no big deal, you should go with him. I know it would mean a lot."  
  
"Well... I'll think about it." She muttered.  
  
By now they had all finished eating and there was another knock at the door. "Chief, don't tell me you and Chaos are having a slumber party in there-" They all burst into laughter and Allen opened the door but stayed in the doorway.  
  
"It's getting late, and Ziggy said everyone needs to be out so MOMO can get her rest." He said now in a dignified voice earning a few more laughs as Shion and Chaos gathered their stuff.  
  
"Good night MOMO. I'll see you in the morning." Shion gave her a quick hug while Chaos merely smiled.  
  
"Good night."  
  
"Bye bye, thanks!" She waved happily as the trio left her room, when she realized that her tray was sitting on her small table still. "Oh no... I'll have to take it to the kitchen..."  
  
***  
  
"So she seemed really excited about this carnival huh..." Jr. propped his feet up on his desk tried hard not to let Chaos see him a complete wreck. He was torn up inside, he had hurt her, something that should never be done to someone you love. "She uh... didn't scream, or cry, or break something I gave her did she...?"  
  
Chaos shook his head. "No she didn't. However... she did turn over your picture, the one on her night stand, she had it face down on the night stand."  
  
He groaned. "I'm in real trouble. I'll just have to try and make it up to her... I didn't mean to sound so angry, I was just worried about her..."  
  
"Don't try and act like it doesn't really bother you, we all know it does except maybe MOMO. And if you acted like it didn't in front of her she'd think you don't even care about her at all." Chaos advised his friend.  
  
"I know, I won't screw this up."  
  
Chaos nodded and left, and suddenly Jr. felt very alone and unsure.  
  
"I mean... I'll try not to." 


	2. chapter II

A/N: Here's chapter two! I've liked all the reviews I've gotten so far, keep them up. In the next chapter there will be some... uh, surprises for the reviewers. Thanks!  
  
Disclaimer: If I really owned Xenosaga, do you really think I'd spend my time writing fanfics?  
  
Chapter Two:  
  
After tossing and turning for what seemed like hours, Jr. sat up in his bed and threw back the covers. Clad only in his black silk pants and a black beater he shuffled to the kitchen in hopes of something there being able to get rid of his worries.  
  
***  
  
MOMO still sat on her bed with her tray next to her. 'If I go I might run into Jr.! But it's so late now... surely he's asleep.' Finally she got to her feet and started towards the kitchen, taking the precaution of taking the longer and more unused route.  
  
When she reached the kitchen she went to the fridge and pulled out a fruit bowl. Filled with strawberries, kiwi, blueberries, and blackberries. She sat in the corner of the kitchen in the booth and hovered over the bowl, eating a few every minute or so.  
  
She heard the soft footfalls and her head snapped up to see Jr. in his nightclothes, frozen in his place, staring at her.  
  
'Oh no...'  
  
***  
  
"MOMO?" He said in disbelief.  
  
"... go away!" She said hiding her face feeling her shoulders shake.  
  
"MOMO..." He slid into the booth next to her and put his hand on her shoulder. She jerked away from him, cowering further into the booth and he could hear her start to cry.  
  
"You were so angry... and I hadn't even done anything..." His arms slid around her, bringing her next to him and letting her cry on his shoulder.  
  
"I'm so sorry... I was so scared that you'd get hurt... and it would be my fault." He rested his head on hers, rubbing her back in a soothing motion. "I shouldn't have yelled... I'm sorry MOMO." Her tears had stopped and now she sniffed into his shirt, no longer shaking.  
  
"It's okay Jr.," She whispered and he slid out of the booth, readjusted her weight in his arms, and started towards her room. Once there he opened the door and set her in her bed, pulling the covers up to her shoulders and tucking them in around her. MOMO's hand slipped from beneath the covers to lift his picture up and set it up straight on her nightstand.  
  
"I sleep better knowing your watching over me." She smiled sweetly at him and he felt his heart squeeze. He squeezed her hand and kissed her cheek.  
  
"Sleep well," With one more squeeze he was gone and had turned out the lights behind him, leaving her to sleep peacefully.  
  
***  
  
The next morning Allen sat opposite of Shion. "You know, Chief... there's this carnival... I was uh thinking... we could go together... like a..."  
  
"Date?" She interrupted him, taking a sip of her coffee.  
  
"Uh, well, yeah." He was surprised at her calmness where as he would've been shaking in his boots- if he wore boots that is.  
  
"That sounds nice Allen, I'd be pleased to be your date." Shion said happily and he broke out into the widest smile she'd seen in years.  
  
"Chief... we'll have a great time." He smiled at her and for once, she smiled just as brightly as him.  
  
***  
  
Ziggy rapped on the door to MOMO's room, and entered to find something that took him completely surprised. Jr. and MOMO were in her room, apparently having a blast. Stuffed animals were all around the room, obviously after being thrown by one of the two. And on the floor were MOMO and Jr., with him on top.  
  
"Surrender!" He shouted joyfully, tickling her while she giggled like mad. Ziggy's protective side took over, as he picked up Jr. by the back of the neck, and started to carry him out of the room, while he kicked and hollered unable to get down or get in a hit.  
  
Ziggy carried him into the kitchen and held him still by the scruff of the neck in front of everybody. The others stared in amazement as Jr. cursed loudly and tried to hit him so hard he practically spun all the way around. "Put me DOWN!" He yelled and MOMO came into the kitchen, her eyes half amused, and the other reproachful.  
  
"Ziggy! We were just playing!"  
  
Chaos yelled for silence and tried not to laugh at his friend, who had stopped struggling and just hung from Ziggy's clutch.  
  
"What happened MOMO?" He asked the small girl and she looked up at him.  
  
"We were playing in my room, when we started throwing stuffed animals at each other. He said to surrender and I said no and threw more. Finally I ran out and he tackled me and started to tickle me. He said to surrender again and that's when Ziggy came in and took him away."  
  
"Ah, it's all right Ziggy, Jr. wasn't trying to harm her. You can put him down." Chaos said with a smile and Ziggy frowned and shook Jr. then dropped him to his feet.  
  
Instantly Jr. was back on his own and put up his fists. "You-"  
  
"Jr.!" MOMO ran in between the cyborg and the boy and held onto Jr.'s hand, stopping him from hitting the cyborg. "Don't hurt Ziggy!"  
  
"Hurt Ziggy?! ZIGGY!" He hollered, clutching the back of his neck, "What about Jr.?! He damn near ripped my vocal chords out the back of my neck!" By now the rest of the passengers and crew were laughing so hard they were almost in tears  
  
MOMO looked concerned and then reached up and kissed the back of his neck. "Does that make it feel better?"  
  
A wave of crimson washed over Jr.'s face as he pressed his hand to the back of neck, his jaw hanging open. Now everyone but MOMO and Jr. (and of course Ziggy) were banging their fists on the table, gasping for oxygen. Jr., who could think of no better way to solve the situation, grabbed MOMO's hand and took off, the back of his jacket flying behind him.  
  
"Who told her that kissing something that hurts will make it feel better?" Hammer gasped.  
  
Chaos raised a guilty hand. "When she tripped last week and hit her head on the table, it hurt so I said that I'd kiss it and make it feel better."  
  
There was another round of laughter until finally it died down and they sat in silence until Shion spoke up, "Ziggy, MOMO and Jr. are... well... you have to let them be by themselves."  
  
"It is my job to protect her." He said, if possible, more stiffly then before.  
  
"Jr. will take care of that, I assure you he won't let anything happen to MOMO." Chaos assured him.  
  
"Hmph." 


	3. chapter III

A/N: Thank you all so much for all your reviews, and I am sorry I haven't updated, I had the worst case of writer's block ever. Ever time I started I hated it and started all over. So this chapter has been in the works for quite a while.

Eltrut- here you go. Thanks for reviewing.

TheShoelessOne- lol, yeah mine is too short but I've tried to make this one a bit longer. I put in some Ziggy/Jr. beating for you.

Maieve Avvi- yeah, they are now. I wanted to include it from the start but…

FffangirlH- I know, not that she's mean, but it's like she's always frustrated with him and I don't like it either.

DarkFusion- I'm glad you think it's amusing.

Koyoko Mei- once again I apologize for it being so long without an update.

Eri- I hope your gut's okay…

Rathrahk: Rahkshi of Yaoi- I work hard on my bits of fluff… thanks for liking it.

SouleatingBloodsin- here you go!

KOS-MOS rox- here you go, hope it's acceptable.

Angelicmayuka-hope you enjoy this chapter too

Raine- here ya go, thanks!

100-series- ooh like the name!

* * *

Chapter Three

"You don't have to help me clean up Jr.," MOMO protested as she straightened up, clutching several stuffed animals to her chest. The room was a mess; the stuffed animals were everywhere, it would take her forever to put them all back in their proper places.

"No, I'm helping you MOMO, I caused most of this." He waved his hand as he picked up several bunnies, in varies shades of pastel. "Hey MOMO… you really like rabbits don't you?"

She beamed. "Besides unicorns, they're my favorite!" He laughed uneasily, he sure couldn't get his hands on one of those, besides, where would she keep the damn thing? It would probably eat its weight in an hour… they were like horses or something…

But a rabbit he could do. Hell he could probably spray paint it to look like one of the stuffed animals…(A/N: Oh dear gods… that poor bunny rabbit!)

It took them the better of an hour to put all of the soft animals back in their right places when Shion poked her head into MOMO's room. "Hey MOMO, I was thinking when we docked tomorrow that we could go shopping, so that you'd have something to wear to the carnival."

"Oh wow! Thanks Shion!" MOMO beamed at her and Shion smiled.

"It's nothing. As long as you don't mind us stopping by my brother's for a bit."

"You have a brother Shion? I'd like to meet him very much." MOMO smiled and Jr. shifted from foot to foot uneasily while Shion rolled her eyes.

"Don't get too excited, he's a real hermit." She waved before the door slid close, leaving the pair alone again.

"So MOMO…" Jr. fiddled with one of the big bows on a bunny. "I was thinking… about this carnival thing… we could go together." He felt his face flame but MOMO's face was one of delight.

"Really Jr.? Can we ride those big wheels?"

Jr. blinked. What the hell was she talking about? Oh what did it matter, like he could say no to her anyway. "Sure thing."

'_Jr. I think you had better get back to your room.' _

Jr. blinked, Gaigun didn't sound too pleased.

"Jr. is something wrong?" MOMO asked, looking at him curiously.

"No. I just need to be getting back to my room. See you MOMO." He backtracked out of the room, waving to her before the door slid shut, shielding her from his view.

'Does he just try to have the worst timing?' He thought furiously to himself before kicking his own door open and throwing himself into his chair.

'_I thought it best to talk to you now, before you made an even bigger fool of yourself Rubedo.' _Gaigun's voice was smooth and calm as always in his head.

'_What the hell do you want?' _

'_Just giving you fair warning, you don't want to get too attached to that girl.' _

' _I am not too attached!' _

'_Even in your head the words sound hollow.' _Gaigun shut down their link, leaving Jr. to fume and kick a chair in his anger.

* * *

chaos was left alone with KOS-MOS, trying again to explain.

"No, I didn't have a real reason to come down…" He trailed off, wondering why he'd even bothered. He was confused as to why he wanted to spend more time with her, and it confused her even worse.

Lately she'd shown more emotion, and he'd happily thought of it as progress… but at times like this…

"Then why?"

chaos hung his head; after all, what could he say? He himself didn't know.

* * *

Shion beamed at MOMO, placing the pretty blue hat on her head, completing her outfit. They had bought at least six new outfits that MOMO could even mix and match, leading to even more outfits.

"Thanks so much Shion! I love my new clothes!"

"Don't mention it MOMO, it was about time we got you some new ones anyway."

They sat down at a small table in the sunshine, and Shion waved over the waiter and asked for two ice creams.

She watched as MOMO ate the ice cream happily enough and looked at all the bags of clothes next to her. 'She really shouldn't be thanking me at all, it's not as if I'm paying for them.' Which was true. She'd only had enough money to buy MOMO one outfit but Jr. had overheard her and handed her enough money to buy her twenty.

_"Jr.! Really, it's nice of you, but…"_

"_What am I going to do with it? Just buy her as much as she wants. Tell her it's from you." He waved as he walked away leaving Shion behind, smiling._

'He doesn't care if he doesn't get the credit. He just wants her to be happy.' Not that Shion could blame him, MOMO was so cute and upbeat, it would have been hard for her to explain why she could only get one little outfit.

Just watching Jr. try to say no to her was amusing, he never could quite do it.

"Shion."

She looked up to see MOMO looking at her.

"When we get back, I'll thank Jr. too."

Shion blinked in surprise. "What?"

"I know he paid for all of this." MOMO looked down into her ice cream. "He doesn't have to buy me all these things, I told him so, but he still does it."

'So maybe there was another reason he didn't want me to tell MOMO.' Shion thought with a smile. "He just likes to buy you things. He can so he does."

MOMO didn't say anything so Shion began to eat her ice cream thinking that maybe MOMO would prefer a hug to all of the things Jr. buys her.

* * *

"So, what do you think?" Shion asked, stirring her coffee.

Allen shrugged. "Well Jr. certainly has enough money to throw around, and it's not like he's pouring his money into a terrible thing. He's just buying her stuffed animals."

"But maybe she doesn't want just gifts." Shion said.

"Well he doesn't just get her gifts though. It's not like he doesn't spend time with her."

Which was true, for while the two were speaking Jr. and MOMO were playing behind them in a large pool of plastic balls and having a terrific fight with them.

A blue ball whizzed past them, hitting a surprised Hammer right in the face. "HEY! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE THROWING!"

Instead of apologizing, Jr. threw another ball, hitting him in the gut.

"THAT'S IT!"

Hammer chucked the balls back, one hitting Matthews while the other bounced off Jr.'s head.

Before they knew it, it exploded in a furious fight between the four, only ending when Jr. hit Ziggy and was dragged from the pool and pummeled with balls from the two other boys.

"True…"


End file.
